Fin vs History - A Dirty Protest Without A Cause (with Vittorio Angelone!) | IRA Hunger Strikes (Part 2)

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

Bobby Sands and Producer Charlie have more in common than you think.   IRA Hunger Strikes (Part Two) The show for people who like history but don't care what actually happened.   For weekly bonus episodes, ad-free listening and early access to series, become a Truther and sign up to the Patreon  ⁠patreon.com/fintaylor  This episode of Fin vs History is brought to you by Surfshark. Secure your privacy with Surfshark! Enter coupon code FVH for an extra 4 months at https://surfshark.com/fvh Chapters: 00:00 - Irish Republic of Autistics  08:45 - Epstein’s Ireland  11:14 - Do Ya Paedo?  13:42 - Fin’s Hunger Strike  17:46 -  The Catholic H  21:55 - The Special Olympics  25:21 - Number One Diet!  27:27 - Scandinavian Prisons  33:20 - Charlie’s Confession  37:50 - The Floor Is Piss   40:51 - Women Have Periods!  44:20 - Long Range Ramadan  48:14 - The Shite Honourable  53:00 - Just Eat!   57:49 - Charlie’s Pooem  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Finn versus history. Horatio Gould's here. And we're joined by our troubles correspondent, Victoria Angeloni, podcast of V. Thanks for coming back. I lost my balaclava, so my anonymity has been compromised.

It has been compromised. In the spirit of reconciliation, you've come here without a balaclava. We're going to thrash it out. We're going to thrash it out. That other guy you had talking about the troubles was great, though. Yeah. Yeah.

Did you get in any troubles for your... People were so angry at me for saying it. Really? The troubles carries on. I've had messages from family members. I don't think that's funny, Vitorio. I'm confused two fairly diametrically opposed figures. It was human trimble, I think I confused with each other.

So, what? One of them's like an insane unionist guy, and the other is like quite a reasonable STLP guy. And I, they're all kind of, all over there, though. Nah. They all got big heads.

It does pretty, like, I think it's, everyone's got a big head. Come on. Come on. This is, guys, there's so much that you have in. common. If they brought Finn and Horatio

into sort of broker the good Friday agreement. Have you not all realized that you've got insane hands? Yeah, you all look like you're an American football helmet without wearing a helmet. Let's all just smash heads together.

Come on. He's a massive. But yeah, Vitorio's our first second time guest, I believe. First second timer. Yeah. Because this is the original

Finn was the internet podcast, the sort of quite long-lived Patreon podcast that we did. Yeah, still up there. Still up there. Those files, how many episodes did we do of that? Not quite a few.

year? Well, one a week for a year, pretty much. Yeah. Someone did message me about something I said in one of those recently, where I said, like, who... We've actually made a lot of trouble with that podcast, more so than this podcast. For people, for podcasts that people didn't listen to, astonishing...

A stalwarting how much many ramifications we had. It's got me personally in quite late. You got in trouble. I mean, there's things I should have been banned from, from that podcast that I wasn't. On that podcast, I said, who the fuck wants to do Richard Osmond's House of Games? That's ridiculous.

Somebody messes me that recently and was like, oh, oh dear. Good to see you on there. I'm looking forward to champion of champions. But now you've done House of Games. I've made it big. And now my tour audiences are slightly older and more disgruntled. You're selling tickets off House of Games? Because Osmond did a down the barrel plug for my tour,

which I don't think, I think most of the time very difficult to sell tickets from Richard Osman's. Were you off camera with the Balaclava holding a gun to us? Yeah. You put the barrel in his mouth. Come on, Dickie. Dive the barrel. Play the game.

We've got Vitorio on because we have reached one of your favorite moments of the troubles. It really is. Something you mention you think about most days. Honestly, he's one of my heroes. We've reached the hunger strikes within May's prison in the early 1980s. I guess the troubles, we just described it as like a tapass restaurant. There's so many picky bits. Some bits taste worse than others?

Smell bad? Yes. Yep. This is definitely the story. strongest, the most acquired taste is the episode we're about to do now. This is an interesting metaphor to use for a hunger strike episode to be like it's Tapa, it's girl dinner. Yes, it is. The troubles is girl dinner. The smallest of plates. Bobby Sands is a tapas restaurant having 10 empty plates. The second hungriest part of Irish history. Yes. Well, there was an original hunger strike,

which you've said was in the 19th century, but we're dealing with the later one in the 19th century. You know, but I'm talking famine. That's what I mean. I call it a hunger strike. That was the hunger strike. The first hunger strike was the Irish famine. Yeah. It's, you know, it's, you know, Listen the first time. We're not listening now. There are so many... There are so many, you know, things are given two names. You know, everything's trans.

We discussed it. Everything's non-binary. Everything's trans. In Northern Ireland, everything is trans. Okay, yes. Transgender. You are... Why are you gay?

Why are you Gatling? Yeah. So everything's trans. And what you call the Irish famine, we call the first Irish hunger strike. Okay. Yeah. And we just refuse. eat anything that wasn't potatoes, that's your

perspective on it. And then you had a drastic weight change, right? Yes. Was that a third hunger strike? Were you protesting anything when you did that? He's on, oh, he's on O, Compte. Zempeg with an apostrophe. The Irish weight loss. The Irish weight loss. Bobby Sal was on O Zempick.

Uh-oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, dear. Yeah. Oh, dear. Bobby's answer's on O can somebody get me a black clava immediately, please. You wanted to come back on. yes in many ways this is the original GL1 but seeing that your weight change

what was that there was like a year where you like got an unbelievable shape two and a half stone down yeah and then you had like quite a gaunt I think I lost it very quickly so a lot of it came off my face and it did it did see it got me feeling like fucking hell like I think a northern Irish man

that emaciated it did maybe think fuck out the trams were still going on what are you proxious this chunky V yeah But I did... Chunkier. I never thought of you as chunky when we started working together.

In hindsight, chunky. The Shetland Pony is how you described yourself. Yes. Long back, short leg, short arms. Yeah, but you've now kind of, I feel like you've leveled, you've found a level. I feel like you went too far and rode it back.

Yeah, a little bit. You went to, yeah, you just the Mophearts and then you pulled it back. You did 50 days. I didn't quite go blind. No. No. But there's a point where you're telling us,

to a gig in a blanket and with a zap on you're like, mate, this is going to be a bit far, man. I don't know who's your PT. That's how it happened. Oh, it was a man called Zach South Hall. Yeah, I think, yeah, Southall's methods, man. This is too much. You trained me for free, even though Mike called them a paedophile

on every podcast we ever did. Yeah. But that's how sponsorship on podcasts works. Isn't it? Well, listen, if you want to shout out, but you don't tell me what to shout out, I may call you a paetful. I need clear instructions.

I need clear instructions. Other updates from my life. I got that finally got the diagnosis. I've got autism. Really? Do you have it with flying colors? Both. Wow.

Do you have it with honours? I don't know what that means. I have it with ADHD. Okay, that's pretty good. But I don't know what the, I'm surely there's a spectrum, right? Famously. Famously.

Do they just say you got it or you don't have it? Or is it like you're fucked? Or is it like it's workable? What did you get your like? What was your like? I think I sort of cheated a little bit because I went to and it was just because she offered to do it for free because she was at my tour show. a practitioner in Essex.

And I think compared to Essex, like a lot of people have autism. You know what I mean? Like, I'm the most autistic man in Essex. Yeah, Essex is not that autisticy, I think. No. What's the most autistic county? I think you start when you're...

I think when you're getting into it. Yeah. I think so. I think it's Shedville, isn't it? Yeah, probably. He just Googled it. Recent data would suggest Kentzer in Hampshire.

It's a home county. Yeah. It could get anywhere. that's big for cricket is as on. Cricket trains. Yeah. But I was just thinking when you got your results,

you know, when you, you know a player on FIFA where they have their stat map and it's like spread like a web. So you have like, lack of eye contact, social cues.

Do you have like a, do you get a whole spread? What it felt like from the report is that I have like girl autism where I have huge, masking is hugely elevated. Like I'm always pretending to not. This is me pretending not to be autistic.

But as we've talked about, aren't we all masking? Yes. You know, I'm not just, I'm not just, I'm not just, I'm not just, no. You're masking social Darwinist. I'm a closeted social Darwinist. I'm masking that. I'm, you know, we've hired people who are working class and I'm fine with it. You know, I'm masking all the time.

I'd like to be, you know, Henry West Gaming. You know that guy. That's me inside this. But he has to, he's forced to mask by society. Because stand-up comedy club audiences, won't take that. No. But your process of building your own audience has just allowed you to

gradually unmasked. You are on masks. It is frightening. It is. It is. It's frightened me. Yeah. But we're all masking you all the time.

I'd like to just be on the toilet eating a KFC bucket right now, but I'm not. I'm masking. Well, I forgot my mask today. I couldn't find it. That's true. So maybe the ball of clove. Maybe the area had autism. Irish Republican autistics.

Maybe. I mean, what is that society called? 26 plus 6 equals 1 good try maybe give it another go when you were last year we talked about in 19702 and we got away with it

but we're rolling the dice again last episode we got up to 1979 Mountbatten Gil Fido Mald Batee Creece Pado Is he?

How did you mess that then your Mountbatten Lord of the realm No chance Lord Mount Batson He's not a Peta file He's related to the queen There's no chance

He's beautiful Kincora Boys Home Mountbatten was getting shifty with some children. Let's look it up. Not Mount Batty boy. What's that going to do? What's that going to do? Are you suggesting there was an Epstein's Ireland?

Epstein's Ireland. Wow. Epstein's Ireland. The Epstein-O-files. Petophile. Charlie's drowning at the moment. Can you help him out? Yeah, Charlie's really, really...

Do you help him out with the spelling? He really, he needs as much help as possible. Christ. K-I-M-C-O-A. If we hide anyone in this company who's not fucking dyslexic. King Corro. We're not dyslexic.

Are you dyslexic? Thank fuck, okay. There's two life rafts. Yes, this is interesting since you've got, you've got neurodivergent women in the corner since last time I was here. I know. Yeah, exciting.

Off camera. I mean, yeah, to be a woman working here is you've got to be pretty riddled with the stuff. Tough stomach. A resilient breed of lady. What are you saying about Lord Manbat? It's implying that he did some diddling here. In 2025, a book, in 2025,

a sexually abused boys at King Cora. One sentence. So what, do you know more about this? Okay. Here we go. An old boy network which held old. That's fine. Come on.

The old boys would come to the sort of orphanage. A journalist alleged that Mountbatten abused boys and the MI5 repeated the obstructive police investigations. So you saying that this was a, this was like a paedophile, anti-peda-bombing. I are a pedo. I-R-A-P-I-What? It's not the best one. I-R-A-Ped.

Sorry is a good pun guy. I don't know. Charlie has been trying really hard with his puns later. I. What do you think of his work? It's a confession. What are you trying to say?

I are a pedophile. I grammatically. I think maybe put some accent on it. I are a pedophile. I are a pedophile. I are a pedophile. It's like shropshire almost. So you're saying this is like a paedophile who doesn't have great grammar.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I are a pedo. There's a lot of them don't. A lot of them are quite simple. We are a pedophile. We are a pedophile.

I am a paedophile, you are a paedophile. He, she it, is a paedophile. Amo Massa matumatim is sort of what. I are a paedophile. It's each tense. Anyway, this pido got torpedoed. Very good. Just because he's been calling Lord Mount Batty a paedophile.

Can we throw it back to Jerry Adams' brother? Yes. You heard about this? No. Do you not know about this? Jerry Adam's brother is. And none of them want to talk about it. I ran into an Irishman on the train and I told him I was doing this.

He's like, bring up the peterophile. No one wants to talk about it. I love the idea that the Irishman. did not recognize Horatio. Horatio heard his accent and went, you know Jerry Adams' brother's a peterfow? And he didn't want to hear about it. He did not want to hear it for me.

What's his name? What's his name? What's his name? I don't know what Jerry Adams's brother, Peterfoth. It's a kind of secret. You don't know either, do you? That's very convenient. Say nothing.

There is a thing like Jerry Adams did give him like a big job. Liam Adams, fuck. Yeah, and he tried to cover up. He never talks about. Who are you? Who are you? He's a pito. I mean, that's terrifying.

Yeah. He's a pito. Yes. He looks like a pito. cancer. Hang on. Uh, uh,

pancreatic cancer is brutal. Very fast. Very tough that one. He's a pido though. But you know. Oh, he's serving a 16 year sentence raping and abusing his daughter.

Christ, Liam. So let's just say there's on the side. Holy fuck. You took the Irish fritzel is Jerry Adams' brother. Jesus.

Christ. Also, what's his name? And this is an ongoing court case. Joe. Seif. Sorry.

Jeffrey Donaldson, former head of the DUP is currently in court. Not the one who wrote the Gropolo. No, it's Gio Donaldson. Sorry, but there's no relation. How deep does this go? He might have used the gruffalo. He might have inspired the gruffalo.

DUPido. There you go. Try to go another one. DUPido. Do you pito? No, I don't. Do you pito? Is that two pitos talking to each other?

I are a pito. Do you pito? Do you pito. Who are we here to meet? I guess my point is, which is part of the conflict, is there's bad eggs on both sides. Completely. This is a good Friday agreement. This is how they find common ground. Listen, we're all peatos here. As a member of the British government, we're obviously all pedos.

Of course. And there's pedos on both sides. We can all agree, why don't we just pedo together? Yeah. And it's like a rave. Tony Blair's finest achievement is uniting the paedophiles on the island of Ireland. The mural that they wouldn't let us paint. We are all penis.

The British government stance on the IRA is hardening somewhat because of the Guildford bombing, the Birmingham bombing. The England campaign generally. The England campaign for long war. The troubles have come to the mainland. We still feel like a sort of World Cup buildup. Yeah. So there's a thing called,

what always fascinates me when I, because I did this at uni and then I'm researching again for this, it's actually so petty what they're asking for. Yeah, yeah. You mean the unification of Ireland? No, no, no, no. No, no, this is political status. Words in my mouth.

Don't be petty. Bit of it are like, they want to hang out. When you look at their demands, the actual hunger strikes of four, they are all for like, I don't want to wear a uniform. And it's a bit like, well, you're at school, mate. Yeah, but they got autism, so. Well, now it's like, I don't like the fabric. It's like, you know.

So there's a thing called special category status. And this goes to the point. You got special category status now. He does now. He does now. He does now. many people nowadays have special category status many of them work here charlie in the last episode you were talking about how like is is one of the shankhill butchers a serial killer or is he not

called that because he would say he's doing it politically right what it's his special interest to kill innocent god yeah if you can interpret that as that I suppose that's his hyperfixation butchering catholics but special castigris status is what the british government introduced for Northern Irish people convicted of paramilitary offences, which basically means you're a political prisoner under the Geneva Convention. You're not a prisoner prisoner. And this is a concession for the provisional's entering discussions with the Brits in the 70s. This is very important that we get this right,

because this is what all the hunger strikes come down to. This means that the inmates who are in prison get privileges, similar to those in the Geneva Convention, which means they can wear their own clothes. They don't have to do prison work. So it's Muffty Day every day, is what they want. They want Muffty Day. They want Mufti Day.

That's what I mean. It's quite petty. They died for Mufti Day. Yeah. I mean, you said that. They were housed by faction. They could mingle, I think, as well, because they didn't want... They wanted to do...

It's like to associate with you and like organize... And then they get extra visits and food parcels. So that's what special case states is me. They want extra food? Yeah. Or they go the wrong way around it. Yeah, ironically. Yeah.

But as I said in the last episode, I couldn't even... hunger strike in order to get a nicer meal. Yeah. It is funny to hunger strike for extra food. It's the marshmallow test. We talked about this. What's that? Delay gratification. Yeah, that's a hunger strike. That's a hunger strike. So you put a marshmallow in front of a kid and say, and you leave

them alone and say, I'm going to come back here in 10 minutes. Oh, and I've got two marshmallows. And you'll get two marshmallows if you avoid it to get two. No. They're asking you to hunger strike for five minutes. Couldn't do it. This is Jay Adams. Couldn't do it. Could not do it. We're watching the video now. This is live footage of the IRA.

I'd say, I'd say this. This is H block. This is H block. H block in May's Prison. This is a five-year-old who's been given a marshmallow. Oh, God. This is me.

They want Irish unification, but this is smelling it. This is me. This is me in front of a marshmallow. It's just... Are you a big marshmallow guy? Hey? You're a big marshmallow?

I'm an everything guy. If it fits in my mouth, I'm eating it. It's true. You're not fussy. I've never seen you tell you guys about any dish. Do you don't like anything you would hunger's drink? Yeah, to be fair, you really do.

You're like one of those crushers. You know, the combustion things, you know. That's one of those videos on the internet. Hydraulic press. Hydraulic press. What's her in? Is watching you going, oh, no, I didn't like that one. Oh, I didn't like that one.

We met her. What the fuck turned in? Ayame. Ayame. A hundred marbles. That's not her. You just Google anime. A'amay we had on internet.

She reacts to videos of things being crushed. And I am the crusher. Yeah. You're eating 100 marble. Oh, it's glass, I don't like it. And Finn's like, and Finn's like, da-d-d-d-g-g-g-g-g-ha. And people are reacting.

Blood pouring on his chin. Oh, that was nice. That was nice. No, I, uh, the things, the two things I don't really like, but I would, so I don't like beetroot that's not been pickled, like raw beet-were. I mean, is you going to get a beetroot, love pickle it at least. Yeah, I like pickled. I like pickled beetroot.

And then, Kiwis, I'll, I mean, I will eat, but I, the texture, I'm a bit like, meh. But if it's in a fruit salad, I wouldn't turn it down. I did a radio thing yesterday, and in their fruit bowl outside the radio thing, they had kiwis, but no sort of knives or spoons to be dealing with the kiwi. Are you one of these just eat the skin of the kiwi people? I'm not doing that. Who are those people?

In a pinch, yeah. It was a virgin radio. They had loose kiwis with, like, they're going to go off. I'm not mad about kiwis, but, you know, I'm not. It's one of the most aggressive tasting fruits. It's an assault. It's a texture as well. I'm not a bad.

I like a kiwi, yeah. It's just it's a too. annoying to eat. No, I'm an absolute bin, really. Anything goes in. Um, my mouth's like Charlie's asshole. Bin Dealer? Well, Binley Gaylor is what I was called at school actually. Really? Yeah. Not, not, no, it was before my eating problems. That was just more because it's rhymed, I guess. In 1976, this is after the Birmingham and the Guildford Pub bombs, the Gardner Committee reviews, which is not a gardening committee. To clarify. It reviews policy on terrorism. from Civil Liberties in Northern Ireland

and recommends ending the special status for political prisoners which they argue weakens prison discipline and the Labour government at the time this would have been Howard Wilson's second term he accepts the recommendation and then in 76 Secretary of State Merlin Reese announces its phased abolition

so this means anyone convicted after that day is treated as an ordinary criminal which means you have to wear prison uniforms you have to do your prison work and you have to serve sentences in these new maize prison H blocks. Is anything about the, do they look like the letter H?

Yes. Is anything that's like specifically dehumanising about the letter H? It just helps define, I mean, how you say, that letter defines whether you're Catholic or Protestant, which is helpful as well. Go on. H is Catholic, H is Protestant. H. Really?

So if you sort of. So H from steps or H from steps. Exactly. Interesting. That is, that is actually like a little, like, who's your favorite member of steps? Yeah, I mean, I have had, people have very strong opinions on the way it's pronounced. I've been told, yeah. H.

People hate the way people saying H. I mean, I don't, I think it's, I think less of you if you say H, but I'm not, I'm not having a go at you. Yeah. Yeah, well, that, now you know why you think less of people. That does make a lot of sense, actually. It's a Catholic. Well, as I've learned some about myself.

Yeah, it's Catholic voodoo. I have an inbuilt Catholic prejudice. Yeah. Yeah. Why, yeah, why are you taking a nap half past through saying a letter? Because that's the noise the letter makes. I always think the noise the letter makes. should be in the letter.

You know what I mean? Otherwise, you're a big proponent of phonics. Yeah. It's how they teach kids to read now. It's not ABCD, it's ABAQA, yeah, yeah. Your special case status, I guess. Anyway, so the prisoners that are in,

they're in the prison already, the IRA lot, they don't like having their... The alleged IRA lot, I would like to say, interned without trial. Okay, so we don't know. All right. You look like one of them. Not to be fair.

Most of them were. But we don't know. These aren't the Birmingham 6. No. No, or the Guildford for. Or the Guildford for. But it's sort of, I guess it's telling that there is a Birmingham 6 and that they were the anomaly to the, what, Belfast?

It's not the famous five, Charlie. That's an Ianablighten novel. That's not famous five. That's all that's about. Lashings and lashings of ginger beer. So some prisoners that are already in prison, they don't like having their being made to wear uniforms, and they kill six prison staff over the course of 1970s.

So, yeah. It's not funny. No, I mean, how are they doing that is what I want to know. Is it shanky? Is it sharpening two brushes? Shanky, shanky, shanky. Yeah. Well, yeah, they were still like their own clothes.

And maybe he was like, no, this is my knife necklace. Yeah. Swally and Zeff. So what they then do in 976 as a response to their special, not being able to wear their special jumper being taken away. Is this what the Paralympilitary Olympics? Yeah. The Paralympics is because they all have special status.

Yeah, maybe. Yes, I suppose so. Maybe. Paramilitary. It's confusing. It's called paramilitary, isn't it? And paratroopers. It makes you think they're all sort of disabled.

Yes. Do you ever think the Invictus games, like, only exists for ex-veterans who weren't good enough to make the Paralympics? We've talked about this. Special Olympics, Charlie would qualify for... Special Olympics is like Down syndrome and things like that. Yeah. Of the mind.

If Charlie lost a leg in a bus accident, it'd be Paralympics. If he lost a leg from an IUD in Afghanistan, it would be Invictors. But if you were better, you would go for the Paralympics. I think you can go for both. The times. It's just to be able to go to both. I don't know if they're getting loads of calls. You have to have served to get into the Invictus games.

Does the, does the leg blowing off have to have happened in, like, in active duty? I don't, maybe not. Like, can you just separately of like... Can you come back with all your legs and then walk down the stairs? Pull on the stairs. Fall down the stairs and get your leg amputated. It was a terrible fall. Charlie,

what if you Google? Tell the listeners. Does piles qualify for the Paralympics? I do not qualify as a Paralympic athlete. Apparently autism might. Because I was trying to figure out if I can get a blue badge. It's a fucking con. I can see you winning the Paralympics.

That would be amazing. I was talking to somebody who their daughter is like entering like youth Paralympic stuff and it's because of the anxiety and also the stress. She's a swimmer and she doesn't, she never wants. She would never do a false start. She's always, like, last to dive in because she would never want, that would stress her out too much.

But I do like the idea that they all have that problem, and they all just, like, the buzzer goes off and they all just fucking stand there. Oh. Yes, individuals with autism can qualify for the Special Olympics. If they also have an accomplice... You just have to have something else.

Yeah. That's like saying people with Brown hairkins qualify for the Special Olympics. What have you Googled? Does persistent genital arousal disorder qualify for this Special Olympics? What's persistent genitals of the rest of... The guy who came at his dad's funeral.

The guy... Oh, 70 times a day. The guy comes and comes and comes on... probably should in all seriousness. I'd watch the special Olympics. But that is a, that's a, if you're, ah, ah, I'm trying to stay on track. If the hundred meters, the gun goes off, ah, ah, it always comes for us. Yeah.

They're all winners, really. Come on bad. Take some notes, Charlie. In the Special Olympics, they are all winners. Anyway, so the, because they want to wear their special jumpers and, um, and see their mates. Yeah. And they don't want to work in the library.

And all this stuff, right? They start this blanket protest. So this is where... It's a blanket protest. It's not in that sense. No, no, no. It's an actual blanket. Actual blankets.

They stop wearing prison. There's not a protest of everything. It's just a blanket. No. No, it's a big duvet day. It's a blank. It is a big duvade. It's a blanket, blanket protest.

Yeah, it's very cute these guys, aren't they? They want to hang out with their friends. It's about to get less cute. It's the, see over. You know, let's take our blankets. It's about to get less cute. Okay. Let's smear up.

Who on the walls? It's so cute. Hello, bye. So in 1976, the first prisoner who has been sentenced under the new regime without the special case status, he arrives in May's prison, guy called Kieran Nugent, who was an IRA volunteer. You know, he does charity work convicted of hijacking a bus. Of his own accord, he had a tabard on. God bless him. It's a Mariton. Keirin Nugent refuses to wear the uniform that he's now told to, saying he's a political prisoner.

And he then says, you've got to be joking. I'm not wearing a uniform. I lay on the floor all night without mattress blankets or anything else. And on his second day, he's given a blanket, which he then wears what, with his pants? Is he wearing pants? I think it's pants and I think it's pants and like a cape. Like a toddler who's a superhero in the summer.

He's wearing pants and a cape. I'm Superman. There he is. Making little flip cartoons. Yeah, I don't remember that one. Captain Underpants H-Bent. What was Captain Underpants who tried to hijack a butt? Captain Underpants did bloody Sunday.

Right. So he's wearing a blanket, which is why it's called a blanket protest. So he's wearing a blanket. And they were known as the blanket men, weren't they? The blanket men. So more people join the process,

they get called the blanket men. They're wearing it during exercise, but this is later prohibited. Then I think there were like marches in Belfast of people who would just like wear blankets to sort of support the blanket protest. Yeah. And so every two weeks,

the governor of May's prison, and where is May's prison? Is it in Belfast? I think just outside but I think I could be wrong about that So he's all in compliance And the refusal of wearing clothes Would lead to three days on the boards

Which means you have to just lie on the floor There's no furniture in the cells You have to yet put on the number one diet Number one diet It's just not a Turkish weight loss Number one diet This is a number one chicken my friend It's not a Turkish weight loss clinic

Number one diet's very very good Very good Tea without milk watery soup and dry bread. Interesting. It's interesting. It's like there's something that does connect

it's the love of tea. The Catholic and Protestants they all love tea with milk. So it's interesting that that's like a war crime here. Tea without milk, flat bread. It's Turkish.

Yeah, it's Turkish. My friend. Number one. Number one, number one, my friend. Black tea. No thanks.

No thanks. I love it. For an Irishman, that is, please let me out, let me out. Give me milk. Give me milk.

Give me milk or give me death. So prisoners are entitled So four visits per month. And then, so three are conditional on behavior and one is like your statutory right as a prisoner. But if you're protesting, if you're wearing a blanket, you get even the statutory one, you get scrapped. Yeah. So they're not allowed visitors. And then for months, the only outside contact is one censored letter in and out per month until some agree to wear uniforms during visits to maintain links with paramilitary people outside.

And people with their pass messages into them via smooching. Really? Go on. We women, like their wives would have like little messages stored up by, like, you know, like one of those nicotine pouches people. Oh, yeah. Shnush. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or a zin or whatever. And they would sort of smooch them across. But you'd have to like tongue them in, wouldn't you? Yeah. It's pretty sexy. Yeah, you would. But a bloke's doing that. No, IRA blokes.

No, no, the wives. Sometimes you had to. Sometimes you had to. I are gay. Yeah, I are gay. And sometimes there'd be no message. Huh? Sometimes there'd be no message.

you'd be looking for that message. Maybe it's in the trousers. Maybe it's in the trousers. No, I'm sure there's a message in here. Turn around. Anyway. I'm talking about a dirty brook. There's the one.

The relations between the staff and the prisoners are tense. Because there is an IRA assassination campaign against prison officers. Yeah, that would be tense. It would make things tense. Yeah, it's awkward. So the IRA shot prison officer Patrick Dillon in April, 1976, and he was the first of 19 prison officers killed

during the Blanket men protests. So in March 78, some prisoners refused to leave cells to shower or use toilets after alleged assaults by officers. So Charlie, are you protesting at the moment? Or it seems to be very much? I always use a toilet. Right. For everything.

For everything. So let's just, can we just talk about what is in a cell? What's in a cell in a maze block? It's a bed and there's like a basically a potty. Yeah. Right, or a bucket or some kind of potty. And there's a wash basin. And then you have to go out to shower.

Yeah. That's the deal. I've never been to prison. I don't tend to go. I think they vary. Like the Scandinavian ones are like lovely. Oh yeah. Classic online.

PlayStation 5. Online quiz is like massage chair. UK uni accommodation or Scandinavian prison. Yeah. And you have to like pick between them. And it's a tough quiz. Yeah.

That's nice. Yeah. And Andrew Brevick's looking like a king. Oh, yeah, he's in like a fucking ibis, basically. He's got a basketball hoop in his fucking, yeah. So in 1978, prisoners start what's been come to be known as the dirty protest, which is also called the No Wash protest. This goes on for five years.

So there's a fight in H block in April 78 and reports that a prisoner gets badly beaten in the solid future confinement, which means prisoners smash up their furniture. I think this is part of like, to note generally that the prison guards were being but our bastards as well as like we aren't allowed to hang over there's like they were being kicked the photo right well that's not yeah that that i guess i i didn't i didn't hear any of that in the podcast i listened to um i just heard i i i just remember thinking that this is all speaking to your dad or something no what's it was an irish guy on the phone to my dad an irish guy who does a podcast called the troubles where he does like yeah yeah yeah which is

very good it's a big deep dive but he didn't i mean uh he didn't talk of i'm sure you're right i'm sure the guards are i mean if you if you're a prison guard you've got to be a bit of a you Or nowadays are just sucking fucking. Yeah, there's so many. These sexy female prison guards? Bonnie Blue is a prison guard I saw recently. Yeah? Something I saw.

Where did you see that? On chat GPT when you typed it in? Yeah, I searched for it. It took a while when I found it. Authorities removal their furniture, they leave just blankets and mattresses. And when inmates refuse to leave their cells, they no longer empty their chamber pots. Chamber pot, that's what it is, not potty.

Chamber potty. Chamberpot makes it feel like a, like a too nice of a place. Chamber pot has real downedon abbey vibes. Yes. A bucket. A bucket. A shit bucket. A shit and piss bucket.

A potty is a bucket essentially isn't. There's no like drainage on a potty. No, there's no drainage. A potty is a bucket by another name. The potty that we have by my daughter's bed, right, is it's basically, it's two, structurally it's two parts. It's a sort of a platform with a hole in it and then a removable potty part that you can take away. The shit bit.

Is there any branding on it to make it fun? As I've said before, it's not a branded potty. Much as her poo step is not branded. Are you open to collaborations with fans? Always. Always looking for collab deals, brand deals. Just poo it. Just poo it.

A Nike potty. All day I dream about shitting. What's that brandy das. Adidas. All day I dream about shit. Have you thought of that? It's all day I dream about sport. Oh, is it?

That's the meaning. It's not the meaning. It's Adolf Dasler was the founder. Adi Das. Dazler, really? Rudolph Dazler set up Puma.

Oh, okay. The two Nazi brothers who fell out over support for the regime, I can't remember which one's which. Rudolph set up, Puma, Adolfsale. Adolfs.

Puma. Puma. Puma. Puma. Puma. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Puma. I'm loving shit. Exactly. Cooking. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health.

From the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led full body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer the healthier you means more moments to cherish take control of your well-being and book an assessment today medcan live well for life visit medcan.com slash moments to get started anyway uh now my daughter has a you take the thing is when she poos in the potty

you really do there's something about a toilet a bathroom that where the smell is a mitigated by the environment. Hard surfaces. Hard surfaces. Soft furnishings make shit smell worse. My God. In a bedroom that's carpeted and full of pillows

just pooing in a bucket in the middle of the room will make the room stink. There will be a scientist. And you don't realize that. You don't want a carpeted shit room. You don't carpet your shit room. Don't carpet your toilet.

If you poo in the shower as well, that's really bad for smell because it kind of greenhouse is. Farting in the shower is awful. Pooing is even. worse than that. Have you put in the shower? Yes, I did for a while, but I'm not allowed.

For a while? I'm not allowed anymore. I'd wind my bum in the shower, but I'd end up just like shitting all over the shower. What? And there was a time with, there was a time with, uh, you've got to make a political statement with some of this stuff. You're just wasting it. You're wasting it.

You're wasting it. I don't stand for anything. You've got to demand something. You got to, you can't just let this go to waste. Basically, I, I used to clean. It was to be more clean, but it ended up being not clean. and um... Wait, how deep were you cleaning your bum?

I would like put my, pretty much put my whole hand in there to clean it out. Right. And then my girlfriend, my girlfriend at the time was banging on the door, trying to brush it on the door. Trying to brush her teeth. And I was like, and my, my chins were just covered in shit. And I was like, if she comes in now, she will leave me. And she did in the end, but not because of that.

Right. So sorry, so you were originally pulling in the toilet and then not wiping her washing. There was times. There was times. Right. Well, I would get a poo out of my bum and throw it into the toilet and it's the most counter-couture intuitive. And I swear to you, that's true. But in the end, I was like, what am I doing?

It's the way he said get a poo out of his bomb. As if he doesn't, like, push with his body at all, he just grabs it with his hand. Wait, explain. Explain why you chuck it in the loo. You're in the shower. You're in the shower. You need a poo. I'll use the loo.

I mean I'll go into the shower to clean myself I'm like I've still got some I'm not done yet and then I'd be like well I can't just like go get all You don't get the floor wet do you No no You can't get the floor right How weird do you look

Walking to the toilet Shit in your own time like a chimp I throw I don't just underarm serve my poo into the lou Yeah you're not fast bowling I don't Steaming in Overarm just spraying it everywhere It's about so oh no

It's just on the floor I don't do that anymore and I'm not allowed. I've been told I'm not allowed to. How long do you do it for in what age? 22 to 25. Three years. How old are you now?

29. You're doing that post-COVID? Yeah, during COVID as well. I think I started around 20, 21, 22, till 25. And did someone tell you off for it? Yeah, because I told someone about it and they were like, you can't fucking do it. Did you have flatmates?

Yeah, I told my mate, he was like, what the fuck? I use that shower every day. I think, you know, I don't want to talk about this anymore, to be honest. Stop saying it like we forced out of you. Yeah. Yeah, nobody who had reported to you, although God knows how he'd respond to that.

You fucking love it. You know, there's just something about hiring someone and you just take it for granted that they haven't put into their hand for at least 10 years. You don't want to put it on the job requirements. Yeah, you'd think that he's only four years away. I mean, less than we started this podcast.

When we started this podcast a year ago, it's only three years. you've been shitting into your hand and throw it into the toilet. Did you show it like Kobe when you did it? Sometimes, yeah. For a treat. Genuinely, Charlie,

what is your facial expression while you're doing it? Is it a mixture of shame or has it become so routine that it's the same like, you have on your face and you're brushing your teeth? Sorry, I've just had a merch idea.

You know those Nike Air Jordans where it's Jordan, like that. It's him just leaning out the shower. It's Charlie leaning out of the shower. Just completely perfect in the time. But it's like your face, like when you brush your teeth and it's just, this is just routine.

Let's not ask him I brush his teeth. Let's not ask him how he brushed his teeth. Just kind of bored and a bit annoyed. No, it is boring. Wiping your ass is boring. It's really boring. I reckon that's what the IRA was thinking as well. It's just boring wiping your ass.

Oh, I reckon there's a quick way to do this. Oh, wow. Let's talk about this again. Yeah, yeah. Sorry, thanks, thanks, Charlie, for keeping us on topic. No, thanks. Well, much as, much as chart. This makes this same team, doesn't it?

Doesn't it? Doesn't it? their shit all over the walls and it's going to be like oh it's not that bad it turns out turns out they were actually they could have protested harder yeah no wonder it didn't work nothing worse than a dirty protest without a cause that's charlie's book yeah that's yeah charlie's portemography a dirty protest without a cause a dirty soldier without an army anyway so the blanket protest

escalates into a dirty protest and this means that they're so they're pooing in their little potty in the corner which is still more civilised than how Charlie fit and then they're smearing excrement on the cell walls now what I heard they'd rip a bit of their foam mattress out

and then they'd use that to scoop the poo and sort of paint much as we painted this wall actually Charlie is Charlie actually painted this. Hold on a minute. Instead of Scandinavian prisons. It was weird how you were only

painting between half 10 and 11 every morning. That was weird. Anyway. Instead of Scandinavian prisons versus UK uni accommodation, it should be like civil rights protest or Charlie's day to day life. Yeah.

Yeah. So they take a bit of their phone mattress out and they'd like sort of paint, paint it on the wall. And they wouldn't be making, they wouldn't be making art out of it. Or would they be writing like, well,

maybe. It's just sort of circle. generally. The pictures are mad. If you want to get the... I get the pictures up. It's like potato shapes. Potato, you know, potato prints. Is it like Pollock? Yeah.

Is that Pollock? No, Pollock's more like splatters. I guess it depends where they were on the Bristol Stool Chart. They probably rejected the Bristol Stool Chart as a tool of the British Imperial Exchange. Is there like a dairy, dairy poo chart? Stool chart. Oh, my days. That's so much poo.

And look at him. He's loving it. Look at him down there. He's loving it. So we're looking at a photo. now of the dirty protests. This is from Charlie's personal collection. But your wife's getting into interior design, isn't she?

My wife is getting into interior design. What do you think about this as a... It's real 70s vibes? Yeah, it's no, that kind of brown of the 70s. Yeah, I mean, it's not disson. I said this last time I was in, and everybody was like, oh, ha ha, ha, a bit funny. It's just nailed on, that's what it looks like.

Because they are making, to look at the photo of it, they aren't making circles. The brush strokes are interesting. Yeah. So they're smearing, I mean, yeah. Yeah, that's a lot of poo, isn't it? Authorities attempt to clean the cells, but prisoners just resume straight away afterwards.

There's also like this food that they're not eating as well in the corner. So maggots are getting everywhere. And there's piss as well, sort of being like the floor is all piss. There's just everywhere. New game. The floor is piss. Floor is piss. The floor is pissed.

So, but there was a point where they had run out of bed to sleep on. because they had used it as their poo paint brush for the walls. I've run out of bed. Well, yeah. Well, yeah, you have. And all this is for them to wear their own clothes. Do you know what I mean?

That's where I'd hang out with their pals. And hang out with their pals. And I get that it's part of a broader thing. It's in a, yeah. It's all like, but when it's, when it's a protest about a specific thing. And internment. I think internment's the big thing.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. But what I listened to in that Travels podcast, it was all about this particular special case status. But what that represents. That's what I mean.

It's what I mean. It's represented for something. So by mid-78, there are about 300 prisoners involved. The smell is unthinkable at this point. Oh, man. Good God. Five years. Five years of poo on the walls. You must get used to it, though.

Two world cups. That's like our patrons changing rooms. Carol Smiley's in there. Oh, my words. The protest continues. The British government are not compromising by late 79. nine out of ten newly arriving prisoners are doing this but again this is

it's a culture it's the culture but it's just the culture what about the other guy is this is like the 10th dentist that doesn't recommend Trident but it's so that it's just I don't actually recommend rubbing your shit on the off

this is just after Mountbatten's been blown up so this is why there's no compromise from the British because they've just you know to take out a much beloved pedophile pedophile you know pedophile as we always say

by this point in the 70s that's all this country has That's how great is export. We're not manufacturing anything. We've outsourced everything. The only thing, the only product we export is well-dressed. Well-dressed.

So taking out Manbatten is just unthinkable. So, they also must have killed some pedos in the pub bombs. When Mountbatten blew up, it was like when we lost steel, you know. Steel production, Wales. Yeah. Overnight. Well, who are we anymore? So in January 1990s,

the prisoners issue these five demands. I don't want to wear a uniform. I don't want to work in the library. I want to see my mates. I want to get remission rights back. That's where you can be let out early for good behavior. And I also want recreational facilities and I want a weekly visit and letters in a parcel.

In February 1980, and get ready for this listener, this is about to get even worse. 30 prisoners in Armour Women's Prison join the dirty protest. And if the poo wasn't enough, they're also smearing mental. blood on the wall.

This is Edinburgh Frin show, right? I saw this. Yeah, I definitely saw it. We should say, congratulations to the Armour Women's Prison, the sketch troop that won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 1980.

With the groundbreaking message, women do have periods. Women have periods and they poo and look at that, aren't we clever? Yeah, what are you trying to say there? Yeah, well, brilliant. You really open my eyes.

Yeah. Close my nose. So in June, 1980, the European Commission of Human Rights rejects the complaint by four of the prisoners. They say the conditions are not inhumane

but they're self-inflicted and designed to enlist sympathy for political aims. I mean, that's kind of fair. Which is fair. When they're like, this is inhumane, they're shit on my walls.

It's like, well, you stop sparing your own shit of the walls. Yeah. Um, it's a... Yeah. We're all trying to find the guy who did this.

Yeah. It's the hot dog costume. It's the IRA in the hot dog costume. It's the poo emoji. did this? Why is there poo everywhere? So, Christ, we don't have long, we have to get, we haven't even got to the first hunger strike.

So the first hunger, so the poo is not working. We've tried the poo. What's next? The first board of goal is poo on the wall. Pooh and menstrual blood is not working. They shut the kitchen sink at it. Well, that's covered in poo as well. You know, look, smearing your poo on the walls

is not the way to go to a British man's heart. No. You know, we have a slightly more refined, Massachusetts. To interior design than this. By 1980, the blanket and dirty

process had been going on for four years with no political resolution. And the British government maintains its policy that they're criminals and we're not

giving you political status. And this is because Thatcher is in power. That's in power and it's not just Mountbatten is Ayrine Eve been assassinated yet by this point.

Oh, she loved that boy. Yeah. Errin Eve was her close friend. He's assassinated by them. Wasn't Mountbatten like her? no it was the queen's cousin queen's cousin yeah yeah yeah and

is this around the time of Thatcher being like When's Harry Neve killed? Is crime 79? Crime is crime There's no question of political status Errneed has been assassinated in 79 as well

And that was Thatcher's great political Great friend That was the one where they sent him to the moon They blew up his car I think And it was like Fuck me There is like in an account of it It mentions that he went

fucking minds Goal kick Yeah Brano celebration Cooh yeah yeah

the comment theater's like that one's gonna have snow when it when it comes down so so by 1980 the poo process aren't working

and so they decide that they have to escalate in order to force negotiations so that seven you go from there

you don't eat yeah yeah fair enough which will stop the pooing I guess yeah yeah

yeah we're all just input machines yeah what goes in must come out yeah so 10th of

October seven Republican prisoners begin a hunger strike in the Mays prison. Now, this is to secure the five demands. The original seven, they pick one from every county

because they want to try and maximize support from outside. Must be an extra one in there if there's six counties, seven lads. Well, no, because Brendan Hughes isn't on the protest.

I think he's orchestrating it. I think he technically did start because this one's quite shortly. With Brendan Hughes for people as the lead character of Say Nothing. Oh, really? Yeah.

That's like the darky hues they called them, which isn't great. So, because of what he... He was like a bit tanned. Yeah. That's like your dad had that, right? Yeah. Yeah. He called something slightly worse than that.

Your dad says the M word. Sometimes. He gets it. He's got the past though. I mean, because it's been used as a... Yeah. What's the pressure against it's been used against you, then you can use it. But then I'm allowed to call people horrible words we're gay people.

Yeah, that shouldn't really be the rule. Yeah. It doesn't stand up to much and that stands up. So, also we could just call each other words just to give ourselves a path.

Yeah, you have to use it once. Right. Let's use it once. Just go lock ourselves for a particular charge each other up for slurs. Ah!

They want to create a short, intense crisis. They don't stagger their hunger strike protests. They all go on a hunger strike at the same time. Now, hunger strike, supposedly you can live

the average time between 60 and 70 days before you. before you die. It's super grim. So it's not intermittent fasting. It's mitten fasting. Mitten fasting.

Right, right. Yeah. It's a long-rage Ramadan. Yeah, okay. But no eating when the song goes down. Right. Yeah, it's at Raman in the Arctic Circle, as you were saying. After Circle Ramadan.

Yeah. So by December 1980, he was slipping in an app consciousness. And supposedly the way it goes is you, around 50 days, you start getting into a coma. And then your organs basically just sort of shut down solely. They were told to keep. drinking water, stay hydrated, much as you have to tell women with their stupid, big sippy cups. So, yeah,

sandy cups, yeah. Do you think they had those, like, encouragement water bottles? Keep going. You're there. Halfway through, but it was with poo. Yeah.

They would do this over Christmas because they thought they're not going to let people go hungry over Christmas. But this is Thatcher. This is tough love. Yeah. It doesn't matter if you're not eating.

Doesn't give a fuck. Don't give a fuck. Yeah. I love the idea of Thatcher responding to like the no man's land football match. Being like, what? What are you doing? It's a wall.

It's a wall. It's Christmas dinner. If you don't want it, it's your own fault. It's tasting. The strike is called off because the British government had sent a document outlining proposed reforms. But they thought, oh, great, they're going to concede. But the document basically was very ambiguous.

And it pretty much said, I mean, you have to wear uniform. We have to do work. Maybe you can see your mates if you're good. I can't remember what it said. Right. But it was deliberately ambiguous. So. But it felt like, like, like, New York.

were maybe about to start and then it was just like yeah they sort of called it off maybe a bit early i think is the the perspective of the people involved but then but then the second one is this is what happened at the end of the first one then so what they called it off because they thought they were getting it and then negotiations collapsed right so yeah so then they they started and a couple of the were near very near near close to death so they stopped it to proceed with negotiations but then the british never actually gave an inch really so then they realize we're going to have to go again. And this is where Bobby Sands come in, who, you know, with 50 minutes

in the deficit, I haven't even fucking, oh, the people who he is. He was, he'd been in jail for, was a possession of a firearm, I think. Been in jail for a while. He's 27 at this point, 27 club. And he basically, he then becomes the operational commander of the second hunger strike in 1981.

And he knows he's going to die, or at least he might. When he starts, he's like, I'm going to die. He's like the only way we're going to get these concessions. It's sort of like it's like a real heavy quote at the start of it. He says, I stand at the precipice of something, something, something.

What have you seen hungry? You've seen that film by Steve Stephen? I haven't actually. With Michael Fasten. It is amazing. Film people like it. Is Fashbend of Bobby Sands? Yes.

Right. But yeah, he's the kind of symbolic martyr of the whole cause probably. Then what they do with this one is they stagger it. So they think that every two weeks, there will be a, there could be a death, which will just keep it in the news.

Rather than it's like one big news story, one week they're like yeah yeah so first of march 81 the second hunger strike begins they stagger it the first guy to stop eating is bobby sans uh now 10 10 of these men will eventually die so thatcher says crime is crime is crime it's not political uh and there's no formal concession uh so while they're striking uh there's a uh the MP for fair manner in south thailand dies dies, Frank McGuire dies of a heart attack and then... Such a bad heart attack that his car blew up.

And so he had been an independent nationalist MP who was abstentionist as all the Sinn Féthainz. Doesn't show up to Westminster. So that triggers a by-election and then all the nationalists agree that they should maximize impact by electing Bobby Sands

because he's a month into his hunger strike. It's also like, because well, of course he's a political prisoner, he's an elected. MP. Of course. Yeah. But it's a very tight council,

borough, whatever. Split, yeah. It's right on the line between Catholics and Protestants. So, yeah,

the majority is 1,446 in the end. Crazy. Which, and then the podcast I listened to, there were lots of Protestants living in that constituency that was really shocked at this. They were like,

oh, the idea that my neighbor wants... My neighbor might be a Catholic. My neighbor wants a Catholic. like a jailed IRA member as my MP, Rams home for them that, like, I thought we could just get on his mates. So he's now elected member of Parliament

and he's in prison cell, covering his own poo, not eating, which is not very parliamentary. No, it's not. The right Honourable Bobby Sands. The right honourable... Mr Speaker, Mr. Speaker, he is thomping his shit on the walls.

Is he the right Honourable Bobby Sands? Yeah, I guess so. If you're an MP? Are you right honourable? The right pooey, Bobby Sands. The right pooey. He's covered in poo. He's covered in poo.

Isn't he what? This is autism talking to intellectual disability. This is the problem. To low IQ. Low IQ versus high-pourty. Right pooey versus shite honorable. In the 50s, we would have been in the same class in school for some reason. Yeah.

Yeah. The shite honorable, Bobby says. You're on the bus. You're looking at the time table. He's right pooey. Look at him, he's covering in poo. No, we get it. We get it.

It's a visual. It's a visual. Shite honorable works. Works, is it? And right pooey. They're both perfect. They're both perfect. The right pooey, Bobby Sand.

I mean, he is right pooey, to be true. He's right pooey, lad. Whoa. Right, pooy, lad. Yeah, I mean, thank God he never went to Parliament because you play for the Lste Union. San Exeter. We're going to probably hell back. Come on.

So, um, Sam's election makes it impossible. to frame him as normally criminal because he is now an MP. And so, hang on, this is less than a month after he's elected, right? The election is on the 9th of April. And on the 5th of May... It's kind of mad they let him stand, though. Right? What, the Brits?

Yeah, I mean, they changed the rule afterwards, but it's kind of... You can't stand when you're in prison? Surely. On what grounds do they change the rule? They changed the rule that you can't be serving a prison sentence and stand to be an MP. Right. Which I think is kind of... What?

They're still citizens of the coming up. country. Like you don't lose your citizenship because you're in prison. You have it put on time out. Sort of do. Your citizenship's put on ice. It's a sin bin. Yeah. It is. Cooling off. Yeah. It is sort of, yeah. But then how do you enact prison reform? Like that's a piece of policy that's affecting the end of

the end of them. Yeah, I mean, you know, if you want bigger toilets, then ask for them. On the 5th of May. So, so. The day after Star Wars Day. The day after Star Wars Day, which we haven't placed any of this, they'll be livid. Did they celebrate Star Wars Day? We should place this. Do you want to play it? Do you want to play in 1981, the day of Bobby Sand's death, what's this before?

What's this after? This is before Italian 90. Yes, lovely. Okay, yeah. But after the sort of breaking up of Pangea. Right, yeah, so it's way after the continent stopped being one landmass, but it's before Gaz's tears in Turin. The list is know exactly where they are.

Before Pavarotti did Nessendorma. Italian 90 wouldn't have made sense during Pangea. all post-Pangia. It's all post-Pangia, but it is all pre-Italian. So, you've nailed that. Thank you. Cushed it. Cushed it perfectly. So,

Thatcher, and again, you know, Thatcher, her skill that is undeniable is how articulate she is and how brute, like there is no room for maneuver in the political soundbite she gives. Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal.

He chose to take his own life. It was a choice. his organisation did not offer its victims. Which is like... It's a good one. Maggie. It's interesting that he's like the Tory politicians and the pro-union politicians at this time.

And it was the thing for Wilson as well because he actually was probably supportive of the United Ireland. Thatcher maybe wasn't. But I think this is such a hassle for them. Like none of them got into politics because they wanted to deal with Northern Ireland for fucking 10 years. They're all just sat there being like,

fuck, I have to give like a hard line. But this is also, this is during the worst Britain... 74 to 84 to 84. economically, the worst Britain's been post-war. You know, three-day week at 74, and there are bombs going off in Guilford and Birmingham, and then by the time Thatcher's in, 81... It's kind of like a could you not, please?

Yeah. Could you not? Can you just wait? Can you just want... I'm run off my feet here. Yeah, can you just use a toilet for fucking five minutes and give me a fucking break? Yeah, it's like having kids, I imagine.

It's genuinely like having kids. You're trying to do with one and the other ones. Eat, fuck, eat! Eat! Just eat. It is that, yeah, it is that. And I have no sympathy. I have no sympathy.

This is your fat show. Eat! You know? Have the prison guards tried the airplane? Have they tried celebrating outside? The prison guards going to IRA prison. I can't resist. Nah.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck not again. They will get us again. They won't get us again. They will get us again. You know, sometimes when my kids aren't eating, I have to go outside to the garden and through the French doors, I have to celebrate every time they put in a mouthful.

And I take them a t-shirt off. and sat my belly. And they love that. Yeah. Right. Did they try that? They haven't tried everything. You have to do like Aguero match.

Generally. Premier League winning goal. Given the prisoners like an iPad to watch YouTube videos while. Yeah. But also we haven't even talked about force feeding, which is what now the Brits stop the practice of force feeding in the early mid-70s when the UN say or whoever say that it's bad form basically force feeding. That's when you shove a pipe down. someone's mouth and quite often results in death because if the person's resisting, all the food or the porridge, whatever,

goes into the lungs and you get a pressure on your mind and die. Was that innovated during the suffragettes? I feel like that's the most famous use of it. Again, it's pre-sippy cup suffragettes. Before the Stanley Cup. Standard issue zippy cup. The first sippy cup was the force feeding the suffragettes. There's a big tank with you're doing really well.

Popping through. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. Anyway. So the law is changed. Brits changed the law saying that no one... A little bit of carrots and a few crisps.

A lost Mary. So the law has changed that bans serving prisoners for standing from election. And then at the end of... So 10 Republican prisoners die over the course of the hunger strikes. Now, by August... Is Bobby first to go? Yeah, he is. And then...

Well, he's certainly the first to... start striking so I imagine he's the first to die and then there's a point where a guy is about to die and then the British come to this back channel um with the Brits and they basically conceding on most things they're going to reinstate special status I think the one thing they say no one is free association but pretty much everything else is fine and then um by October 81 the families are intervening medically Bobby Sands is mom, or maybe one of the other ones as mom had been told by him,

don't keep me alive. If it goes all the way, let me... Interviews with her are sort of very grim. She's like, I support him, I'm very proud of him. Horrible things. But it's, but it's been, you know, if this was like an Italian mother. Well, interesting

is Louis Rabales, the head of the Spanish F.A. You know, when he got fired for getting with the... Kissing the World Cup winners. It was just passing her a message, but we don't know. maybe the lowest stakes hunger strike of all time. Even Mediterranean mum, his mum went on hunger strike to protest him losing his job.

She only lasted about six hours, but it is probably as lowest stakes the hunger strike has ever been. Six hours better than like this. My son has lost his job. I will not eat. Okay, I'll have a little bit. And a little bit of this and a little bit of that

and a little bit of this. So I was one where you say a guy called Jamie Bryson, who's this sort of like Protestant unionist, like, like annoying guy. just pipes up on everything. He did a hunger strike recent, like a few years ago

that lasted less than 12 hours. That's good. That's just intermittent fasting. That's healthy. Well, there is one, and I'm like very supportive of like the cause and everything, but the,

the Palestine action hunger strike at the minute. One of them has type 1 diabetes, so is eating every other day. And I just think you're maybe not involved. Well, what they do is they'd say, it's better for digestion probably. You got screened for having health conditions

for the, these of the 19- And there are people that couldn't do it because they had like, someone dies after like 30 days because they had a stomach infection that didn't know and knew about. One of them can do it because he was hungry. Oh yeah. I wouldn't get.

Athletes foot. Sorry, I'm starving. The amount I would eat before going on hunger strike. Like, I would eat for so much. I would be like a screw. The first death is Finn Taylor,

just before the hunger strike has started. He's eaten himself to death. The hunger strikes end in October 81. And no formal public concession has been announced by the British government, but within months, The British pretty much given on most counts, I think, especially clothing. I think maybe... I think they didn't want them to like organise IRA stuff, basically.

Don't go and plot behind our backs. And maybe remission is still gone. But I think pretty much everything else eventually gets... So it is successful. They get to wear their cool clothes again. And Sands is like a martyr. They're gone. Big time still is.

Yeah. Still a huge deal. You know, has his poetry books. It's called the mural. It's a mural. Bobby Sands mural. Yeah, there's a few. My controversial opinion is

Bobby sounds like amazing guy, amazing character from history. His poems aren't that good? Really interesting. Right. But I mean, were they just like...

Bad poet, bad MP, good political activist. Was they all about food? Fucking stop. Tommy from... I would murder a burger. I could murder a Big Mac right now.

Fuck me. It's not really key, is it? Fuck me. I'm hungry. But that's my poetry. Can we see any good poems? The rhythm of time.

It can't be good at everything, though. It lights the dark of this prison cell. It thunders forth its might. It's the undauntable thought, my friend, that thought that says I'm right. The problem with poetry is, right, is that if it rhymes, it feels inherently.

Charlish or something. And I think the best poems, Charlie's just grabbed the mic, like you're going to come to him. I'm dying to meet you. Do you want to? Like a scratcher. No, no.

No, no. Before you, right, you do your poem, I want you to improvise a poem about you now reflecting on how you used to deal with your feces right? So you've this was four years ago. You need a title for this poem as well.

I feel like to end the episode which Charlie should read us out. I'm going to meet you to the stage and you're going to have to say this is a poem entitled this. In the way that Bobby Sands had poetry and... This is just an open mic night.

Poetry after his Dirty Press and Hunger Strike. Charlie's going to read us out with his poem that deals with your, I mean, non-political protests against your own toilet. Give him like a poetry slam. I think it's more dramatic if we hear the silence in the room with some of the more.

You're allowed to click if you agree with something. I was just saying click him to the stage, like welcome the stage, Charlie. So just before we get Charlie on, Bobby Sanders' most quoted line is our revenge will be the laughter of our children. But like bars. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, great line. That's a good line. That's a good line. Yeah. But the hunger strikes succeed. and we will end this section of the Troubles Tappas menu here you know you're on a patron episode

talking about the Brighton bombing that's on the patron Mike was on as well talking about Byron that's for a patron exclusive if you want access to that and the next early access to the next series join the patron three pounds a month for tour you're on tour

I'm on tour over in the UK and Ireland and America and then Australia and all that where can people get tickets Vitorioanzanui.com. I'd imagine that will be in the description of the thing. I've got specials on YouTube if you want to watch something before you buy it. Take it out.

Two specials. Two specials. Very, very good. Very good place. Very good price. Charlie, to read us out, here is this podcast very own Bobby Sands in more ways than one,

our resident poet, talking about how he used to poo, producer Charlie. Life is a toilet. You don't need it. There's paris. in the shah you just got to feel it

well split the difference you can use a potty look after yourself and look after your body thank you wow no no no no sorry

you're meant to be processing the fact that you you dug shit out of your own ass he's doubled down and threw it into the toilet it's a mental health poem I'm looking after my body and my um I don't know if you are. You're throwing shit into the toilet from the shower. Okay.

It's got another one. I want there to be some form of like, your poo is your future. Don't throw it away. Thank you. You must buzz off those hotel showers with the toilet and the shower. Like a wet room. Also, how far away was the toilet from the...

Probably about me to you. You're joking. You missed. You missed. I have missed. Well, yeah, that's like four feet. I don't want to talk about this again. You brought...

it up. Your poo is your future. Don't throw it away. Right. Well, that's been the hunger strikes, I guess. That's been Bobby Sands. I'm sorry. To anybody from where I'm from, I'm sorry.

Yeah. And I'm on tour in Belfast. Hopefully enough times fast between this episode and that tour. Exeter and Plymouth sales are shit, so that would be helpful. Court. I've got so many tickets to selling corks still.

This will not have helped. Anyway. Bye for an hour. Bye for an eye. Bye for her. Thanks for listening. We'll see you on the Patreon. And if not, we'll see you next week. Bye. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything.

Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember, 988, Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988, suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada. Thank you.